Highsnobiety

After an 18-month search, authorities in Italy believe they've finally identified Geco, a mysterious Italian street artist often referred to as the country's Banksy, The New York Times reports. His blocky moniker has adorned Rome's subway stations, bridges, buildings, and parks – infuriating the city's mayor.

"Hundreds of spray cans, thousands of stickers, ropes, fire extinguishers, cords, locks, six mobile phones, computers, brushes, rollers and buckets of paint," Mayor Virginia Raggi wrote triumphantly on Facebook last week, "This is the material that the Environment and Decoro Nucleus of our local police seized from the Roman writer known as Geco."

Once considered "uncatchable," the elusive street artist now faces up to two years in prison and fines. Though he might not have achieved the same notoriety as Banksy, and though he hasn't yet been formally charged, the Roman police and the city's mayor have been celebrating Geco's recent unmasking.

The city authorities didn't directly disclose Geco’s real name, but according to Italian news outlets, the artist is thought to be in his late 20s and originally from Rome.

The Geco sting was carried out by an 18-month-old environmental police task force that works directly for the mayor’s office (Geco landed in the crosshairs of the mayor after he accidentally tagged Secret Service hide-out thinking it was an abandoned building). They claimed damage to city property as well as various other buildings and green spaces.

But not everyone is impressed with the allocation of resources. While graffiti is a problem in the Italian city, many Romans believe that the city should have been working to address potholes, infrequent garbage collection, and the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic rather than hunting down a street artist.

Geco’s lawyer, Domenico Melillo, is also a street artist known as Frode. He argued that Rome's mayors have historically cracked down on graffiti as a way to forge a political consensus, adding, “They want to show that they’re doing something.”

We Recommend
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    The Untold Story of Dover Street Market’s Rose Bakery
    • Culture
  • East Side Gallery Art
    A Hitchhiker's Guide To Berlin Street Art
    • Art & Design
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    EXCLUSIVE: NFT Artist FEWOCiOUS ' adidas Sneakers Exist Between Reality
    • Sneakers
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    We Braved the Apocalypse For DSM's "Market Market" Sale — Here's What We Found
    • Style
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    Action Bronson Takes American Street Cuisine International With Wanderlust Paris
    • Culture
    • sponsored
  • Image on Highsnobiety
What To Read Next
  • adidas' Handball Spezial sneakers in a white, black, and gum colorway with a folded over tongue
    adidas Is Going Wales Bonner on Even Its Non-Sambas
    • Sneakers
  • Kid Cudi seen outside Erewhon wearing his Members of the Rage fox jersey & cargo denim jeans
    Kid Cudi Is Dressing Like He Time-Traveled From 1996 
    • Style
  • Keanu Reeves wears a beanie, brown blazer, sweater, jeans, and beige boots to perform on Kimmel with his band, Dogstar
    There's Nothing Special About Keanu Reeves' Outfits, Which Is Actually Special
    • Style
  • fossil
    Fossil Presents: Damarr Brown Is Made For This
    • Style
    • sponsored
  • Fossil
    Fossil Presents: Temi Coker Is Made For This
    • Style
    • sponsored
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    From Fenty to New Balance, This Week’s Best Sneaker Releases
    • Style
*If you submitted your e-mail address and placed an order, we may use your e-mail address to inform you regularly about similar products without prior explicit consent. You can object to the use of your e-mail address for this purpose at any time without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs according to the basic tariffs. Each newsletter contains an unsubscribe link. Alternatively, you can object to receiving the newsletter at any time by sending an e-mail to info@highsnobiety.com

Web Accessibility Statement

Titelmedia (Highsnobiety), is committed to facilitating and improving the accessibility and usability of its Website, www.highsnobiety.com. Titelmedia strives to ensure that its Website services and content are accessible to persons with disabilities including users of screen reader technology. To accomplish this, Titelmedia has engaged UsableNet Inc, a leading web accessibility consultant to help test, remediate and maintain our Website in-line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which also bring the Website into conformance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Disclaimer

Please be aware that our efforts to maintain accessibility and usability are ongoing. While we strive to make the Website as accessible as possible some issues can be encountered by different assistive technology as the range of assistive technology is wide and varied.

Contact Us

If, at any time, you have specific questions or concerns about the accessibility of any particular webpage on this Website, please contact us at accessibility@highsnobiety.com, +49 (0)30 235 908 500. If you do encounter an accessibility issue, please be sure to specify the web page and nature of the issue in your email and/or phone call, and we will make all reasonable efforts to make that page or the information contained therein accessible for you.